Global average temperatures in 2015 are likely to be the warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), leading organization for Meteorological Activities.

Data until the end of October showed this year's temperatures running "well above" any previous 12-month period. The researchers say the five-year period from 2011 to 2015 was also the warmest on record. The rise, they state, was due to a combination of a strong human-induced global warming.

The WMO said their preliminary estimate, based on data from January to October, showed that the global average surface temperature for 2015 was 0.73 degrees C above the 1961-1990 average. Their scientists also found that global temperatures were approximately 1 degree C above the 1880-1899 period.

The record-breaking five-year period from 2011 to 2015 was 0.57C above the average for 1961-1990.

The WMO said that levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached new high. In the northern hemisphere, the spring of 2015 saw the three-month global average concentration of CO2 cross the 400 parts per million barriers for the first time.

"The state of the global climate in 2015 will make history for a number of reasons," said WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud. "2015 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with ocean surface temperatures at the highest level since measurements began. It is probable that the 1C threshold will be crossed.

"This is all bad news for the planet."